


For the Sake of the Innocent

by Wandering_Dreams



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, I like worldbuilding okay?, Worldbuilding, did it work?, first attempt at a one-shot, my brainstorming got away from me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28305585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wandering_Dreams/pseuds/Wandering_Dreams
Summary: "If- If I agree to stay, then you'll let Hiroto leave?"The spirits are strange, fickle beings. Izuna learns this the hard way, but he'll be damned if he let a spirit take an innocent child.
Relationships: Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	For the Sake of the Innocent

**Author's Note:**

> I was brainstorming for my other story, There is No Veil, but the plot bunnies got away from me. You don't have to read that for this to make sense. Hope you enjoy reading my impromptu brainchild, born of excessive time to sleep and worldbuild.

Madara-nii had never put much stock into spirit-tales. He thought they were just old folk stories meant to be told at the campfire to scare young children into behaving. Izuna, eager to follow in his brother's footsteps, hadn't believed in them either. Then he met Ayako, and what he had thought was a myth became his new reality. Hisaka had warned him to be careful. 

Right now, staring down hollowed wooden eyes, heart clenching at the sound of scared whimpers behind him, he really wished he had listened to Grandma Hisaka when he had the chance. 

"You are not welcome here." The voice was from in front of him, behind him, all around. It was the breeze through the trees, crickets chirping in the night. 

Izuna suppressed a shiver. The voice –if it could even be called that– didn't sound like much of a voice at all. Izuna scrounged for courage. Some spirits could be reasoned with, if you were careful. If he could find out what this spirit wanted, then maybe— 

"W- Who– what are you?" Hiroto asked. The spirit's attention snapped to him like a rubber band. Inwardly, Izuna cursed. He shifted himself more firmly in front of the shaking child behind him, hoping that the spirit would ignore Hiroto in favor of the bigger target he presented. 

Hollowed eyes followed his movements eerily well despite having no pupils. 

"Why have you come when you are not welcome?" The spirit asked. Its voice sounded like the scitter of claws on bark, the tiny scuffs of paws on grass. Izuna focused his sight and gasped. His voice caught in his throat. He could feel the power this spirit held. It flowed around them in waves, threading through the ground and in the trees. In the very air itself. He was struck with the knowledge that if this spirit wanted them dead, there would be nothing he could do to stop it. He tensed, clenching his fists to hide the tremors. This spirit was  _ dangerous _ . 

"We were not aware that this forest was yours." Izuna asked, careful to keep his voice level and calm. When no replies were forthcoming, he continued. "We did not mean to cause offense." Another pause. "If we may, ayakashi-sama," Izuna began hesitantly, "then we would correct our offense by leaving from your territory." 

"You protect the child." 

Izuna startled, caught off guard. Unconsciously, he wrapped his arms around Hiroto's small body, as if he could hide him from the spirit's sight. 

Despite having no body for him to read, Izuna got the impression that the spirit found his actions… amusing. It terrified him more than he would like to admit. 

Realizing the spirit was waiting for a response, he scrambled. 

"Y-Yes, I do." 

"Why do you protect him?" Despite the gravity of the situation, Izuna couldn't help but feel offended. 

"Excuse me?" He asked incredulously, only to backpedal furiously when he realized how rude that must have sounded. Luckily, the spirit seemed more bemused than offended. It waited for an answer. 

"I protect him because he is a child. He is young and inexperienced, but also innocent. I wish to protect that innocence." Izuna didn't know where this speech was coming from, but seeing that he hadn't been smited yet he felt confident enough to continue. He missed Hiroto's eyes widening behind him in awe and disbelief. "Hiroto is young, and the young make mistakes. He should be allowed a chance to grow old enough to learn from his mistakes and correct them." Quieter, he said, "I want him to learn and grow."  _ Like my brothers would have, had they lived.  _ His voice petered out as the spirit glided closer. 

"You are… in pain? But you have no wound. Do you not need to bleed to feel pain?" The spirit asked. It sounded almost curious. 

Izuna smiled bitterly. He pushed the painful recollections to the side, no matter how much it pained him to do so. "Memories can hurt long after they were made." 

The spirit made a strange crackling sound. It sounded almost… considering? 

Izuna and Hiroto stepped back as wood rattled. Fallen branches and twigs swirled, forming a perch. An owl swooped down from the darkness and landed on it with unnatural grace. It hooted, an eerie song that traveled down Izuna's spine in shivers. This time, when the spirit spoke, it came from the owl. 

"You are strange, jewel-eyed child." Izuna reflexively put a hand to his eyes, where his pupils had spun into the bright red of the Sharingan. He hardly dared to breathe. Behind him, Hiroto clutched his mantle closer. The spirit continued. 

"I am old, older than the great schism that brought me here, and I have grown curious. My owls are my faithful companions, but I wish to see the world through different eyes. Eyes like yours." 

"W-What?" His eyes widened in horrible realization. 

"One of you may leave. The other will stay here and be my eyes." The spirit's voice was unbearably calm, as if it were discussing the weather. Did it understand what it was asking? 

"But Izu-nii-san can't stay with you! He said he would get me back home! He promised!" Hiroto gave a desperate cry. In front of him, Izuna's eyes were blown wide, pupils mere pinpricks. He swallowed. 

"If- If I agree to stay, then you'll let Hiroto leave?" 

"No, Izu-nii!" 

He ignored Hiroto's cries, fixing his gaze on the owl's unblinking stare. 

"He won't come to harm? He'll be safe?" His emphasis on the last word was not missed by the spirit. 

"I am not so lowly as to cheat my words." Izuna nodded slowly. Spirit oaths were unbreakable. If the spirit said it would not let Hiroto come to harm, then he would trust that it meant it. 

"I'll stay." The words felt damning in his chest. 

The owl hummed, pleased, if it could be called that. 

Almost immediately, the threads of power he had seen earlier shone brighter. He flinched as they crawled up his body and into his skin. He felt more than saw the binding snap into place. 

Hiroto's cries of protest were muffled by a parliament of owls that lifted him by his sleeves and the collar of his shirt. They dug talons into the back of his shirt, the hem of his pants, the strands of his hair, anywhere they could find purchase. 

_ I'm sorry, Hiroto. I broke my promise. But enemy or not, I'm not letting another child die for this stupid war.  _

Later that day, people would shout in alarm as Senju Hiroto, carried by a flock of soundless night predators, was quite literally dropped into his clan compound. A search would be launched for the mysterious shinobi by the name of Izu who had helped their young son home safely at the cost of his own, but all efforts would prove fruitless. Far away, in the Uchiha compound, a newly minted clan head worried for his missing brother. And the cogs of fate began to turn. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ayakashi -- alternate word for yokai, or Japanese nature spirits.


End file.
